Curtain rod with electrically driven carriage

ABSTRACT

The disclosure concerns a curtain rod assembly with an electrically driven carriage in which clutching means are provided between the motor and means for driving the carriage along the rod so that the curtain can be manipulated in the case of current failure of breakdown of the motor.

United States Patent [191 Flageollet 1 May 15, 1973 154] CURTAIN ROD WITH ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN CARRIAGE [76] Inventor: Michel Flageollet, 19 rue de Verdun,

Nancy, France [22] Filed: May 6, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 822,268

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 16, 1968 France ..68l51973 Aug. 8, 1968 France ..68162253 [52] U.S. Cl ..160/331, 74/405 [51] Int. Cl. ..A47h 1/00 [58] Field of Search ..160/331, 188; 74/625, 405, 406; 49/349, 28, 139, 358, 362; 192/141, 143

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,806,689 9/1957 Miller ..l92/143 X 3,025,709 3/1962 Brems ..192/l43 X 3,127,782 4/1964 Hopping ..74/406 x 1,952,681 3/1934 Peelle ..49/358 2,015,402 9/1935 .Iohanson ....49/1 39 X 2,755,081 7/1956 Johnson ..l60/l88 3,136,358 6/1964 Madsen ..160/331 3,297,078 l/l967 Miki ..l60/331 3,331,428 7/1967 Ford ..l60/33l 3,374,823 3/1968 Ford ..160/33l Primary ExaminerDavid J. Williamowsky Assistant Examiner-Philip C. Kannan Attorney-Robert E. Burns and Emmanuel J. Lobato 1 1 ABSTRACT The disclosure concerns a curtain rod assembly with an electrically driven carriage in which clutching means are provided between the motor and means for driving the carriage along the rod so that the curtain can be manipulated in the case of current failure of breakdown of the motor.

2 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PAMNTL'U HAY I W3 SHEET 1 BF 5 ew K 0 PATENTEDHAY 15 I975 SHEET 2 OF 5 iii-125R Or me vr NQE PATENTEU 11111 51973.

SHEET l 0F 5 .1 I F? m i 102 FIG. 6

FIG. 8

PATENTED MAY 1 5W3 SHEET 5 BF 5 FIG 10 FIG. 11

CURTAIN ROD WITH ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN CARRIAGE The use of curtain rods, in particular curtain rods with a mobile electrically auto-driven carriage, are known in the art, and, desirably, such devices should be designed for reliability, and should be easy to install and to manufacture in mass production.

It has been found, however, that none of these prior art devices meet all of these requirements. Furthermore, some of such devices fail to provide a clutching mechanism so that the curtains associated with those devices cannot be opened or closed in the case of current failure or of non-operation of the motor. Also, some of such known curtain rods have current paths laterally disposed in the same part of the rod as the wheels of the carriage, in which case the moving about of the carriage causes short circuits and consequently makes operation uncertain. In others of such rod assemblies, in order to avoid this disadvantage, the current paths are placed in another part of the rod away from the carriage wheels, so that the certaintly of operation is thus obtained at the cost of complication of the parts of the rod and of the carriage motor.

Carriages are also known provided with driving racks which detract from operational silence and cause a large power loss and consequent loss of efficiency.

Various known devices utilize two conducting tracks.

The two wings of the principal shaped section are separated and placed there-between is a shaped plastic section provided with a rack. These devices frequently cause the dis-association of the two wings of the shaped principal section because of the opening of the shaped plastic section. Similarly, these known devices necessitate, on the one hand an insulation of the wheels which is very difficult to provide, and on the other hand pathends provided for automatically stopping the carriages.

To obtain this automatic stopping, other devices have to include three separated conductors. To increase adherence, the said devices are provided with rubber rollers. Additionally, the conductors, having the shape of a shaft of square or rectangular cross-section, are embedded in a band of insulating material which can not be rolled on the coils, which on the one hand, necessitates a large stock of the basic materials to rapidly satisfy the demands of clients.

When the curtain is locked, the rack devices, with a low sensitivity to an increase of the resistance, deteriorate rapidly. Of course, it is possible to preview safety devices but these are difficult to adjust, very complex and costly.

Additionally, devices comprising auto-motor carriages arranged asymmetrically with respect to the vertical plane necessitate two types of motors with inverse coils and two types of carriages. When it is desired to use these devices for crossing curtains, the merchants are obliged to have in stock a considerable number of the detached parts.

An object of the present invention aims to remedy these disadvantages and proposes to provide an improved curtain rod which is of surer operation than those of known curtain road, while allowing massproduction at reduced cost prices, a rapid fitting by the salesman and elimination of noise, costly maintenance and deterioration of the motor in case of locking of the curtains.

According to the present invention, a curtain rail assembly for supporting a movable curtain, comprising a rail, a movable carriage, means on the carriage engaging the rail for pivotally suspending the carriage from the rail, the position of the suspending means being such that the center of gravity of the carriage is spaced from the suspending means in a direction parallel to the rail, a motor mounted on the carriage, a driving element connected to the carriage and rotatable by the motor for engaging co-operating means on the rail to drive the carriage, said driving element being spaced from suspending means on the opposite side of the suspending means from the center of gravity of the carriage, the weight of the carriage thereby tending to pivot the carriage in a sense so that the driving element is pressed against said cooperating means.

The invention will be better understood by referring to the following description made by way of example, and with reference to the Figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a mobile carriage of a curtain rod according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is plan view of the carriage of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a transversal cross-section on the line a-a along aa of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a transversal cross-section on the line b--b along bb of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a transversal cross-section of a modified rod.

FIG. 6 shows a mobile carriage provided with means for avoiding auto-declutching.

FIG. 7 shows alternative means for preventing autodeclutching.

FIG. 8 shows the end stops.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show an alternative embodiment with means to reduce the useful space thereof.

FIG. 11 shows a modification of the device of FIG.

As shown in to FIGS. 1-4 a mobile carriage 1 comprises a motor 2 having an output shaft 3 upon which is fixed a driving element 4 in the form of a worm screw. This element 4 drives a gear 6 which engages with a rack 7 integrally formed in a track part 8. The gear 6 rotates about an axle 5. Because of the insulation requirements the track part 8 is made of synthetic material such as plastic material. The carriage l is supported by two wheels 9 freely rotatable about an axle 10. The center of gravity of the carriage is arranged behind the wheels 9 so that the carriage tends to pivot counterclockwise about the wheel as seen in FIG. 1, thereby pressing gear 6 against track 7. The wheels 9 center themselves automatically in the lower paths 11 and l 1 of the rod 12. Springable electrical contacts 13, mounted on a vertical axle 14, as seen in FIG. 4, connect one of the poles 15 of the motor 2 to two conducting tracks 16 and 16 mounted on the under surface of the track part 8 on opposite sides of the rack. The contacts 13 are insulated by an insulating sleeve 17. The second pole 18 of the motor 2 is electrically connected to the rod 12 by means of casing 19.

There is provided at each end 20*, and 20 of the carriage 1, openings 21, and 21 the attachment of a curtain to the carriage 11.

The upper surface 22 of the rod 12 comprises attachment means in the form of grooves 23 23 To join the track part 8 to the rod 12, an upper internal wall 24 in the rod is provided with a dove-tail 25, on its lower surface, in which the track part 8 can be slidably mounted.

The track part 8 has side wings 26 26 on either side of the rack 7 which eliminate any contact between the contacts 13 and the lateral walls 27 27 of the rod 12.

The rod 12 and the track part 8 can take on different forms, as for example that shown in FIG. 5.

In a modification, a clutch device is interposed between the output shaft 3 of the motor 2 and the element 4.

In the case of crossing rods, the carriages 1 are driven by a control element supplying electric current either in the rod 12 and the conductor 16,, or in the conductor 16 and the rod 12. The conducting track 16 16 are either interrupted, or covered with an insulating varnish or an insulating adhesive band located at the predetermined stopping place for the carriages 1. Because of this, the carriages 1 stop automatically.

By selection of the distance between the conducting tracks 16,, 16 and the perimeter of wheel 9, and the center of gravity of the carriage, it is possible to lift the carriage by means of a rod or pole engaging the rod 20, opening which enables separation of the gear 6 and the rack 7 for limiting the force if the curtain is locked; the toothed wheel 6 being able to continue to freely rotate.

It is also possible to vary the speed of movement, that is to say to obtain a greater or lesser driving force while retaining the same speed couple of the motor solely by changing the pitch of the screw 4 and of the rack 7 and the size of the gear 6.

The free fit of the wheels 9 on axle l and the shape of track part 8 enable the carriage to pivot by a limited amount about a horizontal axis parallel to the track part 8. This important feature enables the carriage to follow the center of gravity of the curtain which is not always vertical and to be automatically centered. To follow any pivotal movement, the contacts 13 are mounted on a vertical axis which enables them to ensure contact with the conducting tracks 16, and 16 The track part 8 may be made of a coilable material enabling any fitter to immediately serve his customer by simply cutting a length of track from the coil.

Referring to FIG. 6, according to a preferred embodiment, there is added to the carriage 101 a carriage called the pilot carriage 102 constituted by a body 103 and two wheels 104 turning about an axle 105. The carriage 102 is connected to the carriage motor 101 by means of a rotatable axle 106. The curtain is attached to the apertures 107 and 108 and the curtain driver to 107 Thus, when the front of the suspended curtains at 108 meets an obstacle upon closure, the force is transferred to the gear 109 which does not tend to disengage, but is pressed against the corresponding rack. Additionally, a disengaging movement can take place, by an upward force applied to the horizontal flange l of carriage 102. The flange l 10 also ensures the covering of the curtain at closure, by altering its edge with respect to the plane of symmetry passing by the rod and the curtain.

Referring to FIG. 7, in a further embodiment of the invention, there has been added a rubber pinion 115 with a view to compensating for imperfections in the rack 112.

Referring to FIG. 8, as a complement to the electrical conducting tracks covered with insulating material, there has been added, in a another embodiment of the invention, a shaped section 111 called a sectioned which Which mask the rack. Alternatively, the same effect is obtained either by machining the teeth of the rack to a certain length or by blocking the spaces between the teeth. The rack 112 is provided with dovetails or grooves 113 for the fixation of the shaped section 111. i

Thus in the cases where there are two carriages on the same rod and one of the carriages is located in the middle of the rod before the other, the gear 109 slides on the shaped section and an abutment 114 positions the carriage in a well defined manner to enable the said sliding.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, in a further embodiment of the invention, the wheels are replaced by sliding members 18 made of Teflon (Trademark) or any other material. This reduces the overall height of the rod and the diameter of the gear 109, and because of this the total length of the carriage. The track part 119 which has its flanges 120 and 120 is not dove-tailed and its height is reduced.

Referring to FIG. 11, it is also possible to provide a carriage motor having a longitudinal axis which is vertical, so as to reduce the length of the carriage. This assembly can also be provided with a pilot carriage 102.

While the invention has been described in respect to particular embodiments, it is not limited thereto, and there can be provided various modifications of shape and material without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A curtain rail assembly for supporting a movable curtain, comprising a rail, a movable carriage, suspension means on said carriage and engaging said rail for pivotally suspending the carriage from the rail for movement therealong, said suspension means comprising an axle, a pair of wheels, and means for rotatably mounting said wheels on said axle in a spaced relation, and for permitting said wheels to wobble on said axle, thereby enabling a limited pivotal movement of the carriage in a direction transverse to the rail, said suspension means being attached to said carriage at a position which is spaced in the longitudinal direction of said rail from the center of gravity of said carriage, a motor mounted on the carriage, a driving element rotatably mounted on the carriage and connected to said motor for rotation thereby and for engaging said rail to drive the carriage along said rail, said driving element being spaced from said suspension means on the longitudinally opposite side of the suspension means from said center of gravity of said carriage, the weight of the carriage thereby tending to pivot the carriage about said suspension means to press the driving element against said rail.

2. A curtain rail assembly for supporting a movable curtain, comprising a rail, a movable carriage, suspension means on said carriage and engaging said rail for pivotally suspending the carriage from the rail for movement therealong, said suspension means being attached to said carriage at a position which is spaced in the longitudinal direction of said rail from the center of gravity of said carriage, a motor mounted on the carriage, a driving element rotatably mounted to the carriage and connected to said motor for rotation thereby and for engaging said rail to drive the carriage along said rail, said driving element being spaced from said suspension means on the longitudinally opposite side of 6 carriage, and means pivotally connecting said pilot carriage to said movable carriage for pivoting said movable carriage to press said driving element against said rail upon engagement between said pilot carriage and anobstacle. 

1. A curtain rail assembly for supporting a movable curtain, comprising a rail, a movable carriage, suspension means on said carriage and engaging said rail for pivotally suspending the carriage from the rail for movement therealong, said suspension means comprising an axle, a pair of wheels, and means for rotatably mounting said wheels on said axle in a spaced relation, and for permitting said wheels to wobble on said axle, thereby enabling a limited pivotal movement of the carriage in a direction transverse to the rail, said suspension means being attached to said carriage at a position which is spaced in the longitudinal direction of said rail from the center of gravity of said carriage, a motor mounted on the carriage, a driving element rotatably mounted on the carriage and connected to said motor for rotation thereby and for engaging said rail to drive the carriage along said rail, said driving element being spaced from said suspension means on the longitudinally opposite side of the suspension means from said center of gravity of said carriage, the weight of the carriage thereby tending to pivot the carriage about said suspension means to press the driving element against said rail.
 2. A curtain rail assembly for supporting a movable curtain, comprising a rail, a movable carriage, suspension means on said carriage and engaging said rail for pivotally suspending the carriage from the rail for movement therealong, said suspension means being attached to said carriage at a position which is spaced in the longitudinal direction of said rail from the center of gravity of said carriage, a motor mounted on the carriage, a driving element rotatably mounted to the carriage and connected to said motor for rotation thereby and for engaging said rail to drive the carriage along said rail, said driving element being spaced from said suspension means on the longitudinally opposite side of the suspension means from said center of gravity of said carriage, the weight of the carriage thereby tending to pivot the carriage about said suspension means to press the driving element against said rail, and further comprising a pilot carriage having a roller connected thereto and supported on said rail, said pilot carriage having an arm extending outwardly of said movable carriage, and means pivotally connecting said pilot carriage to said movable carriage for pivoting said movable carriage to press said driving element against said rail upon engagement between said pilot carriage and an obstacle. 